Buenos Aires, Argentina

Being able to transport passengers rapidly in a city as large as Buenos Aires requires a reliable and extensive network of subways and regional trains. As part of a Charter Rail contract, Siemens is responsible for the maintenance of 16 four-section subway motor train sets on Buenos Aires' subway Line E for the period between 1997 and 2009. Siemens also helped modernize Line A - the oldest in South America - and even back in the 1920s and 1930s the company provided assistance in building Lines B and C. Siemens designed and built an IT platform that included a video system for registering speeding violations on the streets and roads of Buenos Aires. The company also built a surface-movement guidance and control system for aircraft at the city's airport.

In the 1930's, Siemens helped to build Buenos Aires' trademark, the Obelisco, and the Avenida 9 de Julio. The company also provided the illumination for Puente de la Mujer, which was designed by the famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. In addition, Siemens technology lights up River Plate Stadium and Buenos Aires-Luján Highway.

Health insurance companies in Argentina use IMED, a Siemens solution that monitors patients' need for medical treatment and medications as well as the associated costs. The IMED solution processes 1,6 million transactions per month in Buenos Aires alone and 2 million in the whole country. Siemens also installed a multimedia telemedicine platform for the FLENI (Foundation for the Fight Against Neurological Diseases) clinic, one of the most important neurology centers in Latin America. The platform's IT systems have enabled a connection to be established between spatially separate surgery rooms at FLENI's two care centers. Doctors can also use a special auditorium for videoconferencing on complicated medical issues and operations. Finally, the Internet-based HiPath communication system has been installed in a number of Buenos Aires hospitals.

Siemens has built a service center for EDASA, which is one of the largest Coca-Cola bottling facilities in Argentina and also owns plants in Chile and Brazil. The solution Siemens provided has shortened processing times at the EDASA Contact Center and noticeably increased customer satisfaction. EDASA produces, sells and markets all Coca-Cola brand products in the Argentinian cities of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Santa Fé, Córdoba, Mendoza, San Juan and San Luis. In 2004, Siemens converted the Buenos Aires civil registry office from a paper-based administrative system to one based on electronic files. This has speeded up the time it takes for couples to obtain a date for their wedding. At the heart of the Siemens solution are electronic files that store all historical documents pertaining to weddings, births and deaths as well as the associated correspondence. Siemens assumed responsibility for the collection, scanning and indexing of all documents and their placement into electronic files. The company also trained the more than 80 employees at the civil registry office in how to use the new hardware and software. In 2000, Siemens digitally linked 32 public hospitals in Córdoba Province, connecting more than 1,300 computers at 15 clinics via glass fiber lines. More than 370 computers have installed Soarian MedSuite software to integrate electronic patient records - actually there are nearly 750.000 electronic patient records - and to control hospitals pharmacy's stock, among other benefits. The Argentinian state social security agency (Administración Nacional de Seguridad Social) relies on IT and communication equipment from Siemens to make administrative processes leaner, and Siemens also set up a voice-over-IP (VoIP) network based on the HiPath platform for the Argentinian tax authority, AFIP (Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos). The latter is currently the largest public IP network in the country. Argentina's main postal service provider, Correo Argentino, also modernized its branch offices with the help of IT technologies from Siemens. Pure luxury: In addition to breathtaking design and a fabulous interior, the new Faena Hotel + Universe in the El Porteño building in Buenos Aires offers its guests state-of-the-art communication technologies in the form of mobile and fixed-line systems for voice and data transmission.